Stephan Brigidi: Maeda was a bad pick for RISD

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 10:24 AM

Regarding “RISD president to leave for job in Silicon Valley’’ (Dec. 5, news): It is not often that The Journal’s front page brings us good news, but this story was especially good news for many alumni, faculty and former faculty.This president wil

Regarding “RISD president to leave for job in Silicon Valley’’ (Dec. 5, news): It is not often that The Journal’s front page brings us good news, but this story was especially good news for many alumni, faculty and former faculty.

This president will leave a legacy of deconstruction and contempt. It was actually an odd headline that he was leaving because John Maeda never really arrived at RISD. He never moved into the president’s house, on Bowen Street on College Hill, but commuted from Massachusetts. The one mark that he did make in this house was to whitewash the guest bathroom, thus covering walls that were full of drawings, colors, words, graffiti and images of the long school tradition. Gone are the images and signs of David Macaulay, Richard Merkin, Harry Callahan, Gil Franklin, Barry Kirshenbaum, Connie Leslie, Aaron Siskind, Ruth Dealy, Hardu Keck and many others.

Maeda's apparent scorn for tradition was demonstrated in his methods of thrusting the innovation button of technology upon a school that should, as a leading art school, embrace both tradition and innovation. Tradition, whether in spirit or in practice, should be held in high esteem and treated with respect. Apparently John Maeda never learned this.

The trustees really blundered when they chose this techie geek from Cambridge to lead RISD, who did little more than fracture the faculty, demonstrated by its “no confidence” vote. His arrogance and lack of investment was made quite clear during his tenure.

Let us hope that trustees can find a humanist like former president, Roger Mandle, who embraced the larger community and led a prosperous expansion of RISD in many ways.

Good riddance, John Maeda. Silicon valley deserves you. You will not be missed.

Stephan Brigidi

Bristol

The writer received a master of fine arts degree from RISD in 1976 and taught in the school’s continuing-education faculty in 1987-05.